Potential Free agent/trade/sign tracker

[Tetsujin]

Question for you, if the only way to get him was giving up Keegan, would you do it? I think I would...

He's nearly the same age as Keegan, just 1 year older. Last year he put up:

• 18.6pts 6.8rebs 3blks 1stl on 50.6/35.5/78.8
• Won DPOY

He's a young DPOY who would be a great complimentary piece to Fox and Sabonis. He's the absolute most perfect fit you could have next to Sabonis. He still room for growth as a scorer.

If we were to trade for him, it would cost a minimum of Keegan. You'd probably also be looking at Future 1sts + Colby + Barnes/Huerter. Between Barnes and Huerter, they'd just pick whichever player nets them a 1st round pick.

I wouldn't because I largely believe in Keegan's potential to become a three level self-creating scorer more than I do JJJ, who is still mostly just a catch and shoot or lobs guy despite being in the league for half a decade at this point. Factor in JJJ's bad injury history (he's had one solidly healthy season in his entire career and most concerningly for a big has had major knee and foot issues bad enough to cost him 50 games at a time) and the fact that Keegan's still on a cheaper contract for the next three seasons and it's not a particularly hard decision for me.

Absolutely no way the Grizzlies trade JJJ for anyone less than Embiid or something though because they're so thoroughly locked into that Ja Morant max contract that absolutely no one is going to want to trade for in a rebuild situation that they're more likely to do something incredibly desperate like trade a bunch of assets for James Harden or something than trade pieces off for younger pieces.

 

[twslam07]

I wouldn't because I largely believe in Keegan's potential to become a three level self-creating scorer more than I do JJJ, who is still mostly just a catch and shoot or lobs guy despite being in the league for half a decade at this point. Factor in JJJ's bad injury history (he's had one solidly healthy season in his entire career and most concerningly for a big has had major knee and foot issues bad enough to cost him 50 games at a time) and the fact that Keegan's still on a cheaper contract for the next three seasons and it's not a particularly hard decision for me.

Absolutely no way the Grizzlies trade JJJ for anyone less than Embiid or something though because they're so thoroughly locked into that Ja Morant max contract that absolutely no one is going to want to trade for in a rebuild situation that they're more likely to do something incredibly desperate like trade a bunch of assets for James Harden or something than trade pieces off for younger pieces.

Yeah the injury callout is a good one and something I wasn’t actively considering. The issue is that it’s very very difficult to find the right type of player to put next to Sabonis long term and that player tends to just hold a ton of value just because he can is so rare.

Let’s imagine for a minute that Memphis sucks this year and decides to blow it up and rebuild next season. This trade technically works salary wise and I think makes us an instant championship contender with a long window (core would be pretty young):

Harrison Barnes
Kevin Huerter
Sasha Vezenkov
Davion Mitchell
2025 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
2026 SAC Pick Swap (Unprotected)
2027 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
2028 SAC Pick Swap (Unprotected)
2029 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
2030 SAC Pick Swap (Unprotected)
2031 SAC 1st (Unprotected)

for

Desmond Bane
Jaren Jackson Jr.

Memphis would probably want Barnes, Huerter, and maybe Mitchell rerouted for younger assets but that would leave us with…

PG - Fox / Monk
SG - Bane / Jones
SF - Murray / Duarte
PF - Jackson Jr. / Lyles
C - Sabonis

We’re probably not giving up enough value but that team would not only have excellent talent but the pieces fit/complement each other extremely well.

 

[Sac.Kings]

You don’t give up Keegan in this scenario and I’m certainly not doing the Grizz any favors. I don’t consider JJJ a star by any stretch and while he would fit well with Sabonis, he’s not worth Keegan. I don’t think the Grizz would want anyone else that we would be willing to trade away, so it’s a moot point to me. Unless of course they would take Huerter and Barnes (unlikely). Not sure the Grizz’s problems end even with Ja returning. So much damage has been done that one has to question if it can ever be undone. Ja definitely stunted his own growth permanently as a marketable player and while the Grizz said and did everything right as an organization, this is a stain on them too.

 

[hrdboild]

If Memphis is in trouble, isn't Jaren Jackson Jr. going to be the one guy they keep to build around? I don't think they're actually going to blow things up though. Desmond Bane is a streaky shooter and their best player is currently suspended. They're off to a slow start and might take a step back from last season's record but they're still a playoff team. We started last season 0-4 and came close to the 2 seed by the end of the year.

 

[twslam07]

If Memphis is in trouble, isn't Jaren Jackson Jr. going to be the one guy they keep to build around? I don't think they're actually going to blow things up though. Desmond Bane is a streaky shooter and their best player is currently suspended. They're off to a slow start and might take a step back from last season's record but they're still a playoff team. We started last season 0-4 and came close to the 2 seed by the end of the year.

My point was to monitor them over the next 2 seasons. They’re not going to make a knee jerk reaction a few games into this season. Just like we shouldn’t make any knee jerk reactions regarding Huerter.

 

[iowamcnabb]

I agree with 206 on Caruso and he may be the most realistic trade target THIS season if the Bulls need to blow it up. A KVon for Caruso/ Craig deal makes sense for both teams. If Chicago blows it up they could get a lot of picks for Lavine and a first or two for DeDe. For Caruso, they get a young, talented sharp shooter on a great contact for a couple more years. Caruso is one of the best perimeter defenders in the game and is only 29. Maybe he is your Doug Christie. High iq and good passer and at least respectable from three.

 

[Capt. Factorial]

2025 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
2026 SAC Pick Swap (Unprotected)
2027 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
2028 SAC Pick Swap (Unprotected)
2029 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
2030 SAC Pick Swap (Unprotected)
2031 SAC 1st (Unprotected)

I think I just fainted.

 

[Tetsujin]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1719372477217075206

OG continues to make a huge amount of sense for the Kings even though there is a chance he either (a) ends up a half-season rental or (b) garners an extension so expensive that it hamstrings them financially going forward.

Unfortunately Masai is probably going to continue hoarding his guys until they eventually just leave in free agency.

 

[iowamcnabb]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1719372477217075206

OG continues to make a huge amount of sense for the Kings even though there is a chance he either (a) ends up a half-season rental or (b) garners an extension so expensive that it hamstrings them financially going forward.

Unfortunately Masai is probably going to continue hoarding his guys until they eventually just leave in free agency.

the other concern with OG is he has been pretty open about wanting a larger offensive role. He doesn’t want to be a 15-16 points a game guy. In my opinion we would be best with 3 starters in the 17-28 ppg range (Fox, Keegan, Domas) and then great defenders at the other wing spot and 2 guard. I would be ok with a rental on someone if the price is right and we are showing we could compete this season. If that pushes Keegan down to 4th for a season or 2 I could live with that

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

I think I just fainted.

I MAY have fainted the first time I saw this. Came back to see it again, hoping it was all just a bad dream. Proceeded to faint a second time. And am now afraid I am going to faint again after seeing it for a 3rd time.

 

[macadocious]

If OG wants to be a 20ppg guy he's going to play on a bottom 5 team.

I have faith the Brown, Staff and Monte would be able to fully articulate what they acquired him for and to do to make this a championship contender. My only concern in that acquisition would be the cost of resigning him. He's going to want the max. He's not worth the max.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

I am strongly of the belief OG is too risky on an ender. If we could talk him into a sign and trade at the end of the year it would a) probably cost us less going out and b) eliminate the concern that he would bolt (or is being forced to come to someplace he doesn't want to be in the first place).

I totally get that he fits a need in a big way. Just not sold we are what he wants. Of course winning and culture could change everything. I don't know what the Raptors culture is like, especially post their title. Their leadership strikes me as incredibly toxic.

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

Yeah the injury callout is a good one and something I wasn’t actively considering. The issue is that it’s very very difficult to find the right type of player to put next to Sabonis long term and that player tends to just hold a ton of value just because he can is so rare.

Let’s imagine for a minute that Memphis sucks this year and decides to blow it up and rebuild next season. This trade technically works salary wise and I think makes us an instant championship contender with a long window (core would be pretty young):

Harrison Barnes
Kevin Huerter
Sasha Vezenkov
Davion Mitchell
2025 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
2026 SAC Pick Swap (Unprotected)
2027 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
2028 SAC Pick Swap (Unprotected)
2029 SAC 1st (Unprotected)
2030 SAC Pick Swap (Unprotected)
2031 SAC 1st (Unprotected)

for

Desmond Bane
Jaren Jackson Jr.

Memphis would probably want Barnes, Huerter, and maybe Mitchell rerouted for younger assets but that would leave us with…

PG - Fox / Monk
SG - Bane / Jones
SF - Murray / Duarte
PF - Jackson Jr. / Lyles
C - Sabonis

We’re probably not giving up enough value but that team would not only have excellent talent but the pieces fit/complement each other extremely well.

Soooooooooo, let me try to understand you for a sec...

You want us to give up SEVEN draft picks, but then proceed to say that we're PROBABLY not giving up enough???

You're right, we're PROBABLY not giving up enough...

We're DEFINITELY giving up enough. Actually, we're DEFINITELY giving up too much.

How much are the Lakers and Warriors paying you to work undercover for them?

 

[iowamcnabb]

I also think other teams are going to have better trade packages for OG. If I had to guess Siakam is the one on the move and the Raps rebuild around Barnes, OG and Dick.

 

[macadocious]

I don't think there is any chance Siakim resigns in Toronto after Masai's public comments.

 

[twslam07]

Soooooooooo, let me try to understand you for a sec...

You want us to give up SEVEN draft picks, but then proceed to say that we're PROBABLY not giving up enough???

You're right, we're PROBABLY not giving up enough...

We're DEFINITELY giving up enough. Actually, we're DEFINITELY giving up too much.

How much are the Lakers and Warriors paying you to work undercover for them?

I think you need to take a 2nd look…

We are not giving up 7 draft picks. We are giving up 4 draft picks and 3 pick swaps. That’s a big difference.

Also, considering a team of…

PG - Fox / Monk
SG - Bane / Jones
SF - Murray / Duarte
PF - Jackson Jr. / Lyles
C - Sabonis

…would be a championship contender for awhile (their entire starting lineup would be 24-28 years old), you’re talking about (most likely) 4 late 1st round draft picks and 3 pick swaps that may never even convey.

Let’s maybe flip this to help make the point…would you trade Sabonis and Murray for that package I offered? Sounds like an easy yes to you.

 

[twslam07]

I think I just fainted.

But once you see Bane and Jackson coming back in the deal, hopefully you’ll be revived

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

I think you need to take a 2nd look…

We are not giving up 7 draft picks. We are giving up 4 draft picks and 3 pick swaps. That’s a big difference.

Also, considering a team of…

PG - Fox / Monk
SG - Bane / Jones
SF - Murray / Duarte
PF - Jackson Jr. / Lyles
C - Sabonis

…would be a championship contender for awhile (their entire starting lineup would be 24-28 years old), you’re talking about (most likely) 4 late 1st round draft picks and 3 pick swaps that may never even convey.

Let’s maybe flip this to help make the point…would you trade Sabonis and Murray for that package I offered? Sounds like an easy yes to you.

OK, I stand corrected, but....

FOUR draft picks for that package...That's definitely a HARD NO from me.

Also, under NO circumstance would I be willing to give up both Sabonis and Murray for that package. Just the thought of that is borderline laughable.

 

[twslam07]

OK, I stand corrected, but....

FOUR draft picks for that package...That's definitely a HARD NO from me.

Also, under NO circumstance would I be willing to give up both Sabonis and Murray for that package. Just the thought of that is borderline laughable.

Right, so why would Memphis be willing to give up Jackson & Bane for that package? Hence why I said we’re probably not giving up enough value

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

Right, so why would Memphis be willing to give up Jackson & Bane for that package? Hence why I said we’re probably not giving up enough value

My apologies....I totally misunderstood your initial post to mean that regardless of the fact that you feel like we're not giving up enough value (which, by the way, I would definitely argue against - I think the draft picks result in us giving up TOO much value...And, no way am I sending Sasha in a trade - his upside is insane!!!), you would still go through with that trade.

 

[206Fan]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1719372477217075206

OG continues to make a huge amount of sense for the Kings even though there is a chance he either (a) ends up a half-season rental or (b) garners an extension so expensive that it hamstrings them financially going forward.

Unfortunately Masai is probably going to continue hoarding his guys until they eventually just leave in free agency.

Extremely incompetent at selling off his assets. Let's see if things change this year. He would rather let a player leave for free because teams aren't willing to give up their first-born child for a 1/2 year rental.

 

[SacTownKid]

Guys, Monte showed his hand going after Beal. He's looking to load up and thank goodness he is. If things work out you have Fox/Sabonis/Keegan/trade target. Sign me up.

 

[Padrino]

Guys, Monte showed his hand going after Beal. He's looking to load up and thank goodness he is. If things work out you have Fox/Sabonis/Keegan/trade target. Sign me up.

It may suggest that, I suppose. I'd argue it's more suggestive of the fact that Monte is looking to be opportunistic. That's largely been the story of his tenure as GM so far. If he can buy low on talent that can help the team "level up", he will. But he wasn't willing to part with significant assets for Beal, so we'll see if he's willing to part with significant assets for the next potential big name trade target.

 

[KingsFanSince85]

A KVon for Caruso/ Craig deal makes sense for both teams.

No it doesn’t.

The players some of you guys fall for boggles my mind. Alex Caruso? Seriously?!

Love ya, Iowa, but c’mon now.

 

[twslam07]

My apologies....I totally misunderstood your initial post to mean that regardless of the fact that you feel like we're not giving up enough value (which, by the way, I would definitely argue against - I think the draft picks result in us giving up TOO much value...And, no way am I sending Sasha in a trade - his upside is insane!!!), you would still go through with that trade.

I’d comfortably accept that trade for the Kings. Again, I think it would make us a legitimate championship contender for many seasons considering the entire core would be 24-28 years old.

Let’s think about it for a second. The starting lineup of Fox - Bane - Murray - Jackson - Sabonis would be much improved talent-wise and complementary-wise…

• You’d have 2 good defensive players and 1 elite defensive player between Fox and Sabonis. Fox can also turn it up defensively giving us 4 good defenders surrounding Sabonis
• Not only would we have good defenders around Sabonis, but Murray and Jackson have excellent size & length at SF & PF to help make up for Sabonis’ lack of length.
• Rebounding would be improved as Jackson and Bane are better rebounders than Huerter and Barnes. Having another guy like Jackson next to Sabonis could have helped us offset/negate someone like Looney.
• I think scoring would be improved considering Bane is a better scorer than both Huerter and Barnes and would give us another secondary option behind Fox to rely on when defenses clamp down
• You still have two elite, movement shooters (Bane & Murray) while still having a solid shooter at PF (Jackson) to maintain the spacing needed for the offense.
• Passing/playmaking would be about the same since Bane is a solid passer like Huerter.
• The bench would still be solid with a great 6th man in Monk while Jones, Duarte, and Lyles provide solid defense/shooting/high IQ play.

So for a team that had a historically great offensive season last year but struggled defensively, what happens when you maintain that offense but improve the rebounding and massively improve the defense? You enter championship contender conversations.

If you’re core is Fox - Murray - Sabonis, you’d be hard pressed to assemble a team that is more talented and complementary than the one above. Having said that, I think the trade I proposed has a very very very small chance of happening but I’m more than happy to defend the position that the trade I proposed would be a good one for us.

 

[twslam07]

It may suggest that, I suppose. I'd argue it's more suggestive of the fact that Monte is looking to be opportunistic. That's largely been the story of his tenure as GM so far. If he can buy low on talent that can help the team "level up", he will. But he wasn't willing to part with significant assets for Beal, so we'll see if he's willing to part with significant assets for the next potential big name trade target.

Yeah I think it had more to do with the “buy low” element.

Makes me wonder if someone like Jerami Grant enters this conversation. With Lillard gone, I’m assuming his efficiency is going to drop again as he really shouldn’t be a primary option. With that drop in his efficiency and that large contract, POR might look to unload him down the road for peanuts. He might be another decent target for us while not having to surrender many assets (similar to the Beal situation) considering he’s as good of a shooter as Barnes, is much longer than Barnes, is a better defender than Barnes, and can help protect the rim from the PF spot.

 

[iowamcnabb]

No it doesn’t.

The players some of you guys fall for boggles my mind. Alex Caruso? Seriously?!

Love ya, Iowa, but c’mon now.

if Keegan grows and we need defense more
Than offense from the 2 there is a lot to like about Caruso. He is generally considered one of the best perimeter defenders (nba players regularly name him as such) high IQ (one of the guys Lebron has trusted on the court) And shoots just well enough to have to be guarded at the 3 point line. I have no idea if we make a trade this year and I’m not even down on Kevin but the only 2 starting roles to potentially play with are Kvon HB.

 

[Joshoua]

I think you need to take a 2nd look…

We are not giving up 7 draft picks. We are giving up 4 draft picks and 3 pick swaps. That’s a big difference.

Also, considering a team of…

PG - Fox / Monk
SG - Bane / Jones
SF - Murray / Duarte
PF - Jackson Jr. / Lyles
C - Sabonis

…would be a championship contender for awhile (their entire starting lineup would be 24-28 years old), you’re talking about (most likely) 4 late 1st round draft picks and 3 pick swaps that may never even convey.

Let’s maybe flip this to help make the point…would you trade Sabonis and Murray for that package I offered? Sounds like an easy yes to you.

Memphis isn’t trading both players for picks

 

[Reyes134]

Danny green? Just got waived

 

[The_Jamal]

if Keegan grows and we need defense more
Than offense from the 2 there is a lot to like about Caruso. He is generally considered one of the best perimeter defenders (nba players regularly name him as such) high IQ (one of the guys Lebron has trusted on the court) And shoots just well enough to have to be guarded at the 3 point line. I have no idea if we make a trade this year and I’m not even down on Kevin but the only 2 starting roles to potentially play with are Kvon HB.

Caruso hasn't gotten the buzz he deserves because he's been on bad CHI teams the last few years, but dude is genuinely one of the most impactful role players in the NBA. He's so incredibly good on defense; and the beauty is you get to save Fox's energy on O because Caruso just takes the best offensive guard assignment every game. Impact stats ADORE Caruso and he's one of those guys where the eye test fully matches the eye-popping advanced metrics.

He's absolutely everything we hope Davion develops into long-term. I love Huerter, but he's still the most likely candidate from our core to be moved long-term for roster balance. Fox/Caruso starting with Monk flexing at the 1/2 as a guard rotation is really damn good.